


Echoes

by naomimalfoy1



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 15:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30091092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naomimalfoy1/pseuds/naomimalfoy1
Summary: A story without resolution, but a romance nonetheless. Draco Malfoy does everything he can to protect the one he loves. Even if it means forcing her to forget him. Dramione AU, EWE, two-shot.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Kudos: 7





	Echoes

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I decided to write fanfiction on here after all! Work from FFN will also be written here, so yeah, this is on FFN too. I hope you enjoy!

She looked so peaceful lying there, unaware of what he was about to do. Her hair was spread out over the soft blue pillows, and he smiled sadly when he realized he'd never see her like that again. He was standing right next to her sleeping form, his feet burning from the cold, wooden floor. His hawthorne wand was pointed straight at her head, where that big, beautiful brain of hers was. He didn't want to do it, but he knew he had to. Her protection was the most necessary thing on his mind. He was so distracted that he knew the Dark Lord could easily break into his mind and discover what he had been doing the last three years.

The hand that was gripping the wand was starting to tremble, and he could feel tears dripping down his face. He rocked back and forth, the words unable to tumble out of his lips. She would never be able to understand; she'd want to help him do it, and he couldn't let her. It was too difficult a task, and he had already told her too much last night. The memory would be seared into his brain forever, and he didn't want to let go of anything that had to do with her. She was innocent and he never deserved her in the first place.

Staring deeply into her relaxed and unobservant face, he mumbled the single word with a trembling voice. "Obliviate."

He stood there for too long, silvery drops of tears falling from the grey eyes she loved so much. Taking one last look at the girl he won't ever meet in private again, he slipped out of the Room of Requirement and sprinted towards the dungeons. Fellow Slytherins stared at him strangely, as though wondering what he was doing, walking through the common room before classes began. He ignored their gapes and questions as he made his way up to his dormitory. Zabini and Nott were the only two in there, Crabbe and Goyle officially dismissed from duty. Nott only gave him a weird look, and Blaise cleared his throat. He turned to face him.

"What?" he asked, yanking on a robe. He figured it wasn't worth changing his shirt. It smelled like her, anyway.

"Where were you last night?" asked Blaise while he tucked his button-down into his trousers. "Shagging some Hufflepuff?"

The rumor among the Slytherins was that Draco Malfoy fucked every person that crossed his path while patrolling the corridors for prefect duty. What they failed to notice, however, was that his patrolling schedule was the same as hers. Walking around the corridors? Were they crazy? He had better things to do, like being with her. But since the tattoo was burned into his left forearm over the summer, he no longer could meet with her. She and Draco would meet when they had their prefect duties, much to her displeasure. She complained about it every time he took her to the Room of Requirement, but silenced whenever they began doing whatever they did that night.

He was snapped from his thoughts when he realized Blaise was pulling at his sleeve, telling him it was time to go to class. Tentatively, he followed Zabini and Nott to the Potions classroom, not ecstatic to be taking it this year without Severus. Not surprised but very disappointed, he saw that the Golden Trio were the only Gryffindors taking N.E.W.T. level Potions. There were only four Slytherins: Draco, Blaise, Theo, and Pansy. MacMillan from Hufflepuff was in the corridor, along with four Ravenclaws that Draco couldn't name.

The whole classroom smelled like her. And it was magnificently painful.

He ignored Slughorn's beginning lecture, too focused on the bushy-haired know-it-all on the other side of the room, hand stretched to the ceiling. She was able to name every potion that Slughorn had set out on the desk, and the blood rushed to the place between his legs when he heard her voice. She obviously didn't seem confused about waking up in the Room of Requirement, so he wondered if the Memory Charm even worked. She didn't make eye contact with him, on the other hand, so perhaps it worked after all. Slughorn then announced the task for the day, and Draco perked up. That luck potion: he could really use that.

Turns out, a Draught of Living Death was the hardest fucking potion he had ever tried to concoct! It took him most of the class period to even cut the Sopophorous bean. Or maybe he was too distracted because he was watching her. He watched as she continuously barked at Potter, probably because he was doing something wrong. Or right. He looked utterly impressed with himself, a look that Draco had never seen on his face. He passed by her when he went to collect more supplies from the storage shelf, almost brushing shoulders with her. He glanced into her potion, and her hair was extremely bushy; for the first time, she was behind. Potter's draught looked pretty damn good, he had to admit.

He narrowed dark eyes at Potter when Slughorn presented Felix Felicis to him, and stalked out of class, frustrated about a million things. Luckily, he had a free period and spent that time in the library where, coincidentally, she spent her extra time too. He hid himself perfectly, knowing that without her remembering anything about them, that she'd create a scene in her favorite place on earth. He watched her flip through her textbooks about Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Herbology. On occasion, he noticed, she crossed her legs or tensed her shoulders, something clearly bothering her. She flipped her hair over her shoulders when it came forward to cover her books, and he smiled. After a while, he saw her tug at her skirt, and he knew why: she was sore. Fuck! He should've cast a spell to stop the pain, not even thinking about it that morning. He mentally slapped himself.

Later that day, he saw her at dinner. She was arguing quietly with Potter about something, nodding at Draco. He watched her, wondering if her memory had come back so quickly. He shook his head. Not possible. Weasley finally grabbed her arm to stop her from a rant, and she relaxed. He tightened his jaw and looked back down at his food, feeling too jealous to eat. Pansy dropped her head on his shoulder, and he would yell at her later, telling her never to do what she did when they met. He only shrugged her off, and Pansy sat up, looking confused. Pansy didn't love him. It was all forced. She only believed she had to because of pureblood ancestry and descendants. It took him a long time to figure it out, but regardless if it was her or another, he would marry a Muggle-born. And love her forever.

A month passed, and he finally lost all sense of himself. He had just witnessed Weasley staring at her chest, and he burst through the dormitory and chucked his bookbag across the room. Everyone else was in class, and he sunk to his knees, holding his head in his hands. He was shaking, but not from the cold. He noticed that she was always staring at the redhead, blushing when he complimented her or helping him out with spells in class. He knew that he made her do that so she wouldn't fall for him again, but the jealous rage that surged through his veins was enough to make him want to murder Weasley.

That night, Nott spun him around in the common room after everyone had gone to bed. He jammed a finger into Draco's face. "Why the hell is my photo of Daphne broken?"

Shit. After he had thrown his bag of books, he hadn't thought about it actually hitting anything. Now that he thought about it, though, his Transfiguration book had escaped his bag and landed somewhere on Theo's side of the room. "I - I dunno, mate, maybe it was Blaise-"

"I'm sick of the fucking lies, Draco," he hissed, causing the blonde wizard to recoil. "You've been acting awfully strange since the beginning of the year, and I want to know why."

He didn't answer Nott that night, and didn't for a whole other month. During that next month, he kept a closer look on her than he did before. Rather, he paid more attention to the Gryffindors as a whole more than he ever did during school. He noticed that Brown was watching Weasley more often than not, and she seemed awfully fond of him. Weasley seemed to pay lots of attention to Brown, and that she seemed to notice that too. The distance between her and Weasley was impeccably enlightening to Draco, and he thought that perhaps he had a chance to win her back after the war. But then he thought of how many times she still chased after Weasley, even if the weasel had broken her heart plenty of times before. It had taken lots of convincing to get the romantic part of their relationship started.

"Come on," Draco begged, passing her the butterbeer she had asked for from Hogsmeade. She had stayed behind, and he had gone. She was late. She had to go and give Potter everything she had gotten from Hogsmeade. His uncle never signed the permission form.

"I believe I've already answered you, Draco. I don't know how Harry and Ron would react-"

"Bloody hell," he scoffed, shoving her away. "Since when do you need their permission?"

"They wouldn't be exactly happy that-"

"Fuck!" Draco interrupted again, throwing his hands up. "You don't have to tell them! We've already been meeting in private for a year, and you haven't told them that, have you?! You're a Gryffindor, not a Hufflepuff. Don't be so nervous."

She folded her arms over her chest, and he prevented his eyes from drifting down there. He smirked and sauntered towards her. She put her hands out to stop him, but he leaned in anyway. The hand that slammed into his face was powerful and he retracted, his lips not having touched hers. He backed up, nodding with his tongue between his teeth.

"I said no, Draco. Understand that, will you?"

He cocked his brow at her as he took a sip of his own buttery drink from the Three Broomsticks, causing her to laugh. He placed it back on a table that the Room had just supplied to him, and he said, "Ever worried Weasley will make his way to the back with Rosmerta?"

She hit him again, and he deserved it.

The start of fourth year, and she had begged to meet with him on Halloween, after the champions were announced. He had agreed immediately, and he now stood before her, listening to her nervous rant about Potter. She continued on with the injuries that he could sustain, and how he was always put in dangerous positions. She then put down Dumbledore, criticizing him for allowing Potter to enter the tournament and whatever else.

He was becoming utterly annoyed with her, wishing her to just shut up. She did this with Potter and Weasley, right? Why didn't she just talk like that with them? Draco groaned when she finished speaking, and walked quickly towards her, her back pressed against a wall.

"Draco, what are you…" she started, but seemed to understand, and silenced herself again.

He put a hand on either side of her, leaned in, and pressed his mouth to her. She did nothing with her hands, and he assumed that he could use his. He moved his hands to her curls, digging through them, without breaking contact. She tasted of a mixture of food, but the one he caught most was honey. It was a wonderful sensation, and he wished it would never end.

"Why the fuck not?" he roared to her, and she cowered. "We've been going out for two months-"

"Going out? You call what we do 'going out'? I said yes to Viktor-"

"Oh, so it's 'Viktor' now-"

"Just listen to me!" she yelled, and he was fuming, but stopped arguing anyway. "I said yes to him because I knew that if I went with him, it would cause less of a feud with Harry and Ron-"

"Do you care about me?"

"What?" she asked, definitely surprised by the question.

"Ever since we started meeting, you've been worried about what your friends would say. What about me? Do you care about me? I have a reputation to uphold, and you don't seem to get that."

"Of course I care about you," she mumbled with that nervous squeak in her voice. "If I didn't, we wouldn't have our meetings like this."

Nott was comforting him in the dormitory when news had gotten out that Bell was in St. Mungo's. The necklace was a stupid idea in the first place. Theo had been whispering encouraging messages to him throughout the past half hour, but not a single word was absorbed by Draco. He had no hope. The Dark Lord only forced the task upon Draco because he knew that Draco would die trying. No one had been of any help, even Severus, who had offered assistance, but he had shooed his favorite professor away.

"I don't know what to do, Theo," he said after Nott had given up trying to lighten his mood. "I'm a fucking mess. And my thoughts about her aren't making it any easier." The last part he had meant to keep in his mind, and it took him a minute to register that he had even said it aloud.

Theodore stared at him in utter shock. "Who's 'she'? Pansy?" he guessed.

Draco shook his head, pitying himself. When Nott found out who he was talking about, he was surely dead. Theo kept throwing out names, mostly purebloods, he realized, but he shook his head at all of them. Not a single one of his guesses were Muggle-born. Theo sought Draco's eyes, and all of his secrets buried behind the walls of his mind were out. Theodore, notably, was an excellent Legilimens, and read what Draco was hiding. He had let down all of his walls for him. Nott saw everything.

When Draco felt Theo leave his thoughts, the walls were built back up. The sandy-haired wizard looked surprised, and guilty. It was silent for a long moment. Draco waited for his friend to say something, to say that Draco was a fool for ever meeting by himself with a Muggle-born. But Theo didn't look mad. Just…. In shock. He didn't expect anything different, but he still waited for Theodore to speak.

Finally, he did. "Hermione Granger? Wow."

The response was not peculiar. It was very much expected. "I Obliviated her at the start of the year because I didn't want her to get caught up in the task. She doesn't remember us, and I hate that."

"What would you do in these… meetings?" Nott asked, sounding skeptical, like he didn't want to know.

"What do you think?" he replied, and Theo nodded in understanding.

"Do you love her?" Theodore continued.

"Do I love her? Or am I in love with her? I don't know how to answer either one."

"You know she defended you?" He looked up at Theodore hopefully. "Because they were witnesses, they were brought to McGonagall, and Potter said it was you. She helped defend your case. Told Potter he was being mental. It was hilarious when I heard about it."

The optimism that filled his veins overrode his pain. Sort of.

November came, and that was the absolute worst month of the entire goddamn year. So far. Fucking Weasley started fucking Brown, and everywhere he went, he saw Granger crying. She tried to hide it, but he was always in the library the same times she was and, when she thought no one was looking, he'd watch her cry while reading a horrible star-crossed romance novel, either from her home or a wizarding treatise. She'd ignore Weasley entirely, and a few times, he'd hear her mumble "Won-Won" under her breath irritably. If she was over Weasley, it wasn't showing. She still seemed awfully upset.

Finally, the day that Blaise had been jabbering about for a month came. Zabini had bought the nicest of dress robes for Slughorn's ball, and he begged Draco and Nott to make sure he looked fine before taking Astoria Greengrass out. They quickly lied and rushed to the Room of Hidden Things to fix the Vanishing Cabinet, which was the alternative if the poison didn't work. On their way, Draco had almost run into Potter, but hid as he walked by with Lovegood.

After multiple repairment and even manufacturing spells, he and Theo leaned against the Cabinet, weary from all the spellwork that didn't work. Nott then decided to bring her up again.

"She almost asked Weasley, did you know that?"

"But he's acting like a prat," said Draco, trying to hide his anger. "That's the only reason why she didn't."

"Tell me more about your relationship."

He turned towards Nott, frowning deeply. "Why the fuck would you want to know?"

"I want to understand more, that's all," Theodore defended, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I'm not attracted to her or anything. You know who my heart belongs to."

Draco nodded weakly, realizing that Theo could get the girl he wanted and Draco probably never could. He was stupid for ever believing that him and Granger would actually work.

So whatever Severus thought Draco had been doing while he lurked around the party, he was wrong. All he wanted to do was see her dancing. Just like he had watched her at the Yule Ball, two years previously.

Draco was able to slip a note to Granger, telling her to come to the Room of Requirement directly after the Yule Ball. She came as he asked, and he saw that her eyes were brimming with tears. He immediately crossed the room to her, took her face in his hands, and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. She drifted like an angel into his embrace, and collapsed. He caught her, swept the loose curl from her hair back onto her shoulder, and kissed her.

She tasted like butterbeer, and he smiled on her lips when he remembered seeing her downing a few glasses after dancing. Curious hands went to her waist, and hers drew up his back to his neck. It must have been her who asked, because suddenly music started to play, and she dragged them into a waltz.

"You look beautiful," he said, their foreheads separating so he could take her fully by the hips and lift her into the air.

When she landed, she laughed. "Thank you. You look quite dashing yourself."

February approached quickly, bringing with it more painful memories of Draco and Granger. When Valentine's Day came, Draco tried to keep his eyes off of her, but it turned out to be impossible. Last year, on Valentine's Day, their relationship had gone further than either of them expected. It sure had startled Draco to no end.

The blue sheets were rumpled as they finished their meeting for the night. He held her close to him, her hair draped over his torso like a blanket. Still fully clothed, Draco felt the exhilarating sensation in his trousers. She snuggled up close to him, causing him to feel awkward at the closeness. The fact that this all started because he was attacked by fucking Buckbeak, who Granger said was now Witherwings and back in Hagrid's hut, was strange to him.

She sighed against him tiredly, and Draco wondered why she was so exhausted. They hadn't been up too late last night, had they? No, he was sure she was back in the Gryffindor common room by eleven. That was their ending time of "patrol." McGonagall had been rather confused when he asked to be on the same schedule as Granger, but changed it nonetheless.

She mumbled something then, and Draco was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear her. He quietly asked her to repeat, and she did. The three words that she said stirred the strangest of thoughts in his mind.

"I love you."

'What do I say?' he thought to himself. 'Do I say it back?' Fuck, why was this so hard! He wasn't even sure how he felt, and he didn't respond that night. It would have been too late, anyway, for she had fallen asleep right after murmuring it.

The first day of March was terrible. The poison hadn't gone to Dumbledore at Christmas, Draco knew, but he thought that Slughorn had probably thrown it out. Turns out, he didn't. Weasley was declared poisoned by the same bottle Rosmerta had given the idiotic Potions master, and he was now in the hospital wing. Again, Potter had accused Draco of the poison attempt, but no one believed him. Except for Draco and Theodore.

Granger was spending all her time in the hospital wing, so when Draco started sleeping in the corridor next to the wing under an Invisibility Charm, Theo had a lot to say.

"That's preposterous! What if someone stepped on you? Especially her?"

The "f" word was used quite often in the argument that followed, and Theodore lost. He had no chance of winning anyway. The endearments that she used when talking to unconscious Weasley made Draco vomit, but he stayed there, just to listen to her voice. She drove him mad, but it was a wonderful mad. The feeling of joy he got every time she said even one word was enough to make his day wonderful. Even the threats of death from the Dark Lord wasn't enough to break him. Staying strong was key, and she was exactly what he needed.

The day Weasley was released from the hospital wing was when Draco's feelings shattered him. The Golden Trio were together again, and it was clear to him when he walked into the Great Hall that Granger and Weasley were officially courting. She was flirting with the weasel the same way she used to tease Draco, and it angered him immensely. Feeling nauseous, Draco turned and strode out of the Hall to the dungeons. Fortunately again, everyone was eating lunch, and he had the chance to throw his biggest tantrum yet.

Bed comforters were thrown across the room. That was for all the times he and Granger had shared the same bed.

The contents of his trunk were scattered to the winds. That was for the times she had helped him pack for the Christmas holidays.

All reminders of her were gone.

He just had the best fucking luck! Theodore Nott walked in and jumped at the mess, Draco in the middle of it all. He was on his knees again, clutching his stomach. There was a small puddle of bile in front of him, but Theo asked no questions. He had seen it too. No words were spoken as the shorter wizard sat next to the heartbroken one, and a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. The tears leaked from him now, and the question Theo had asked in October was suddenly clear to him.

"I love her," he choked. "So much."

Theo still said nothing, and Draco didn't need an answer from him. Besides, what would he say?

It was in mid-May when Draco cried in front of the broken mirror in the bathroom, and it wasn't for the reason Potter believed. He thought it was about Katie Bell suddenly reappearing in the Great Hall, that it was about the task failing. It wasn't. The Vanishing Cabinet had been fixed months ago, and the reason for crying was the closeness between Weasley and Granger. The flirting between the two of them that afternoon was agonizing, and running away to the bathrooms on the first floor was the best thing to do. He pulled off his vest, tossed it somewhere off to the side, and braced his hands against the sink as he cried and stared at the monster in the mirror. He had shooed Myrtle off when she offered to help, because it wasn't what the ghost thought.

He splashed his face with the freezing water from the faucet, and shuddered with heavy breaths. He shut his eyes tight, letting the cold sink into his flesh. He heard footsteps, and thought that it was just people walking by, not realizing that the previous power of the school was showing his weakness just behind the door.

He gulped at the heaviness of his tears, and glanced up at the mirror to see Potter staring over his shoulder. Draco reached into his front pocket for his wand, extracted it and wheeled around, pointing it at her best friend. He wasn't entirely sure what hex he sent, but Potter dodged it and flicked his wand, using a nonverbal. Draco threw himself out of the way, and it hit the mirror, cracking it. Draco found Potter lurking, trying to find him, but the blonde saw his feet on the other side of the stalls, and he fired a Crucio, to his own surprise and to Potter's. The Unforgivable Curse did not hit him, but Potter seemed to be enraged by the spell and shouted something Draco had never heard before.

It wasn't the torture curse, but it sure should be. The worst possible pain struck his chest, and he looked down to see cuts appearing like Potter was driving a sword through different parts of Draco's chest. He fell backwards onto the wet tile floor, choking as though the blood was flooding his throat. Black dots were starting to cloud his vision, and he pictured how she would react to Potter hitting Draco with that curse, remembering their meetings or not.

He was released in mid-June, just a couple of weeks before the end of the school year. Pomfrey had been confused, not ever seeing that spell before, and so it had taken lots to heal him completely. Severus had come and told him that he had performed the countercurse, but the recovery was what took time. He felt extremely tired all the time, but Pepper-Up Potions had done the trick. Realizing that he didn't know what to do if he did complete the task, Draco raced to Severus' office late one evening a week before the end of term.

The door opened at his light knock and Snape raised a brow. "Draco," he greeted hesitantly, opening the door wide to let him in.

When Severus shut the door and turned to ask what he wanted, Draco talked over him. "I need to know your true loyalties," he said, forgetting why he came in the first place, knowing it wasn't that.

"They have always been with the Dark Lord-" Severus began, but his eyes glistened and Draco knew he was lying.

"You're a triple agent, aren't you? You pretend to work for the Dark Lord, pretend to spy on Dumbledore, but you're working on Dumbledore's orders."

"Bright for a Malfoy," Severus said, causing Draco to snort sarcastically. "Why do you ask? Or tell, rather?"

"Dumbledore knows about my task, doesn't he?"

And Severus told him. Draco learned of Snape's feelings regarding Potter's mother, and almost found his situation ironic. History repeats itself. Snape told him of Dumbledore's plans for the task, and Draco found himself shocked. He agreed with the plan, even though he didn't want to put Severus in that position, but Draco didn't want to kill the headmaster either. Severus' hesitation of revealing the reason why Dumbledore wanted him to do it made Draco realize how serious the situation was. Severus had always been so open with Draco, but he revealed so little.

"You have to do it," Draco said when Snape was finished.

"I am aware."

Silence.

Then, "You've made a poor decision in telling the Dark Lord about your plan."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, not recalling ever telling the Dark Lord about the plan involving the Vanishing Cabinet.

"He wants to send Death Eaters as witnesses."

"Who?" asked Draco frantically, angered because he was hoping not to start a battle.

"Bellatrix, Avery, Greyback-"

"No," he interrupted. "Not Greyback." There's too many children here.

"It's not your call," said Severus, creating the emptiness inside of Draco's chest. And it wasn't the scars from the spell Potter had cast on him.

The day came. The Fat Lady was sleeping when Draco came to the Gryffindor common room. He stood in front of the portrait, and stared upwards to the ceiling. I'm living for you, Hermione. Draco took a deep breath, raced towards the Room of Hidden Things, and waited for them to cross into Hogwarts.

He took his Hand of Glory, leading them to the outside, where they started to wreak havoc. Draco didn't even try to stop them as he already walked over a dead body from the Order of the Phoenix on his way to the Astronomy Tower.

The conversation with Dumbledore didn't last long, and Draco started to lower his wand at the offer of protection, but the Death Eaters raced up the stairs after winning the battle below. Their voices were blocked out, and all he could think about was Hermione. Even if he didn't kill the headmaster and the others went to kill Draco, he would fight them. Six to one. Just to see her again. And he had to.

Thankfully, in the middle of the Death Eaters trying to convince Draco to do it, Snape commanded, "No," and took over. Dumbledore pleaded, sounding an awful lot like begging for mercy, for Severus to do it. The flash of green light came, and before Draco knew it, Dumledore had fallen over the railings of the Astronomy Tower.

Grief wasn't as strong as it was for Potter, but Draco still stood there, begging his mind to tell him that it didn't happen. Severus shoved him away, and they raced through Hogwarts, followed by Potter, and Draco was pushed through the protective gates of the school. He stared in awe as Potter threw angry spells at Snape, yelling something Draco couldn't hear.

Avery yanked at Draco's sleeve, and Disapparated.


End file.
